Obama says U.S. will follow 'legal channels' regarding Snowden

June 24 - The White House presses Russia to exercise all options to expel Edward Snowden, slams China for allowing the former contractor to leave Hong Kong. Deborah Gembara reports.

▲ Hide Transcript

▶ View Transcript

President Obama weighed in on reports that Moscow might allow Edward Snowden to leave Russia.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. President Barack Obama saying:
"What we know is that we are following all the appropriate, legal, channels, and working with various other countries to make sure that rule of law is observed. And, beyond that, I would refer you to the Justice Department that has been actively involved in the case.
The whereabouts of the man who admitted to have revealed top secret details about the U.S.'s surveillance program is testing the strength of U.S. bonds with both China and Russia.
White House Spokesman Jay Carney.
SOUNDBITE: White House Spokesman Jay Carney saying:
"I would note that given our intense cooperation with Russia after the Boston Marathon bombings and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters, including returning numerous high level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government, that we do expect the Russian government to look at all the options available to them to expel Mr. Snowden back to the United States."
The White House made no attempt to hide its frustration with China, the reported first stop the former National Security Agency contractor made after fleeing the U.S.
SOUNDBITE: WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN JAY CARNEY SAYING:
"We are just not buying that this was a technical decision by a Hong Kong immigration official. This was a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the U.S.- China relationship."
Carney told reporters that U.S. officials had urged Chinese officials to arrest Snowden weeks earlier.

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: